Owen was the life of the party and always had a story to tell. He waved Gabriel’s comment off lightheartedly. “No really, I’ve always been good time Owen.” Everyone laughed again even Owen. “I guess that’s all I have to say.” He started to sit down.
His wife Felicia looked at him and couldn’t stop laughing. “What? You never stop talking. You’re stopping now?”
Owen turned bright red at the laughter. He stood again and pointed into the air. “Do I have a story to tell you,” he proclaimed.
Felicia covered her eyes. “He’s on a roll now. We’ll be here all night.”
Owen grinned at her and said, “You see, I am the son of the son of wealthy tycoons. We have so much money that we don’t know what to do with it. So we spend it!”
Felicia nodded in agreement. “Yes, we do.”
“Right Baby, it’s all about the party!”
“And going fast!”
Owen put his hand over his heart. “The faster the better.”
He gave a little funny laugh. “I was the proverbial problem child. There was no one as bad as me.”
Felicia said, “You got that right.”
Owen ran over to his luggage, while Felicia told them, “When Owen was younger, he was a real rebel! He bought cars and motorcycles just to race them.”
“That’s right. I did that didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. That’s why I fell in love with you. You had a fast bike.”
Owen yelled, “The fastest Baby! You fell in love with me when I told you to hold on tight!”
Their two children made disgusted faces at each other. Then they stood and went to sit by Emily, Mason and Amanda.
Owen came back with his guitar. He sang a couple of funny songs as the group clapped along. When he was finished, Owen took a bow and thanked his audience.
He said, “This is my gorgeous wife Felicia and my two tumble weed twins, Derik and Darrin. They’ve learned to roll with it.” He strummed his guitar as he walked over to Thaddeus. The two men did a unique handshake they made up earlier. Owen pointed to his friend. “Your turn brother.”
Everyone said, “Oh yes!”
Thaddeus said, “Right, how can an ordinary man follow that? I knew I should have gone first.” He glanced at his wife as she shrugged.
Thaddeus stood and pointed to Owen. “Well, as you can see I’m the short one.” They all laughed. “I’m six foot six and about as graceful as an ox.” His wife nodded in agreement. “You’re not helping.”
She shrugged and said, “But loveable as a teddy bear.”
Everyone said, “Aw.”
He joked, “Gee, thanks again Honey. There goes my reputation as a tough guy.”
His wife, Callista said, “He’s a carpenter by trade; an all-around handy man to have around the house.” Thaddeus put his arm around Callista.
Felicia said, “Mine’s a tinker too. That’s why they get along so well.” The two women smiled at each other in acknowledgement.
Owen said, “No, I beg to differ. It’s you two who get along so well, because you have shopping in common.” Thaddeus nodded his head in agreement.
Owen continued, “Callista and I can both sojourn. We’ve always used the Hub for entertainment.
“When I returned from the coronation and told Callista about my experiences, she wanted to come see this paradise with the children. We tested our children and they passed. Once we knew it was safe, we decided to plan this trip.”
He then introduced his children: “These are my two wonderful and athletic children, this is Zane and Zaniah.”
Everyone said, “Oh yes!”
Next was Thomasen’s turn. He introduced his wife Becki, his daughter Stella and toddler son Christopher. “I come from a long line of Sojourners dating back to the very beginning. My dad can sojourn, my mom cannot. We discovered I can travel through a Passageway, but my twin can’t.”
He looked at Becki. “When I returned from the coronation and told Becki about the kingdom, it was the first time she showed interest in coming to this planet. I’m glad she finally agreed to leave the farm and join me here.”
Everyone said, “Oh yes!”
When it was Elov, the youngest knight’s turn to share, the shy knight just held up a hand to pass in sharing.
Everyone said, “Oh yes! We are glad we are all here!”
Virgil understood about Elov being shy. He turned the conversation to their homes. He stood up from the table and asked them to gather their things. “Now for the fun part!”
He went to retrieve his walking stick and a lantern. Virgil encouraged them to follow him saying, “If we follow the path, it leads to everyone’s home.” They walked through the forest in anticipation of viewing their new homes, excited about their new lives. For them the adventure was just beginning.
Chapter 98
Renato opened one eye, looked around the room and wondered how long he’d been asleep. The medication had worn off and the warrior felt a throbbing in his leg. He forced himself to sit up. Renato threw the covers off his legs and stared. His leg was still bandaged from foot to thigh. The dressings looked fresh. He was thankful for his wonderful wife. He knew she had taken good care of him as he was recovering. He hated what this incident had done to her. Their once uncomplicated life suddenly had become a tangled mess.
Renato felt torn between his rage against the Suzerain, and taking care of his wife like a good husband should. He didn’t believe there was any other choice for his future. Honor demanded that he fulfill his destiny. Renato wished he had fallen with his comrades. He’d been humiliated; left to die a slow and painful death.
The warrior believed in fate, and because of that he concluded Panphilos had kept him alive for one reason and one reason only, revenge. Nothing was going to deter him. Renato was fixated on the fact that he would be the bearer of terror. He was determined to strike fear into the soul of the Suzerain for what he had done.
Today would be the first step in a very long and painstaking process. The goal was perfection through transmogrification. No one would recognize him when the transformation was complete. Renato doubted he’d even recognize himself. He had in mind a certain powerful individual to help him. This particular individual was on the wanted dead list throughout the universe. Renato had heard a rumor from one of his recently fallen comrades as to where a reliable individual from their village had caught a glimpse of the individual with his own eyes. Knowing this man’s secret whereabouts only solidified in the warrior’s mind that fate was intervening, making him the “selected” one for the mission.
It was destiny that left him the only one alive of the three heroes to vindicate those who had perished. The thought had crossed his mind that he had been chosen by default because others, who were better warriors, had fallen in the battle. However Renato convinced himself of the fact that even if he had been chosen by default, it would only make him more determined to prove himself to Panphilos.
When the time was right, he would travel to the coordinates he had memorized in order to find this immortal legend of a man. Once the warrior found the man who possessed such great powers, he would do whatever it took to convince Zhanavrey to help him carry out this grudge. He would follow whatever course it took to reach the conclusion that had been predetermined, by a being greater than any mortal. Only then would this hatred, that was continually scorching the very core of his existence, be quenched.
Chapter 99
Anthony and Dimitrios made their way to Anthony’s estate. Dimitrios wondered why they were going to the prime minister’s home. He soon found out. They transferred to Anthony’s armored vehicle and drove across his property.
The two men eventually came to a road that went deep into the mountains, all the way to the outer edge of the eternal border. Dimitrios knew this area would not be found on any map being sold to commoners within the Hub metropolis. The only maps that documented this territory were those created at the beginning of the government’s boundary wars.
The areas this close to the eternal border had been sketchily drawn on the original maps. Dimitrios had heard of this section through rumor whispers but it could never be confirmed by any source. The sector was nestled in the Metropolis’ Mountain Ridge and in time its coordinates had been forgotten. The eternal border gave the land an appearance of ending just over the mountain ridge, however this was an optical illusion. Anyone trying to locate this sector would be required to pass through the prime minister’s gated property. Considering that the current prime minister would be the only one with access to the land beyond his estate, no one would be the wiser of the existence to this locale.
Ages ago, this mountainous sector was honeycombed with underground tunnels that had been dug for the purpose of establishing a secluded military community. Long ago prime ministers began and continued this secret project as a brain force initiative. Anthony had inherited the project, but within months had now transformed it to serve as a survival task force unit with one purpose only. In order to fulfill that purpose, Anthony had the personnel and materials needed for the present project transferred to this location under the cover of night in order to remain undetected. Anthony planned to shift the purpose of the Special Forces community. That purpose was to gather intelligence about the radical and mystifying Xidorean followers who were in charge of setting the wheels in motion for the Xidoran Prophecy.
Dimitrios considered himself a hard man to astound but when he was given a tour of the community he was speechless. The project was far and away light years advanced on any facility within the universe that he’d had access to through the years in his government position. He could wander through the mountain’s core for years and never figure this place out.
**********
Max's doctor was in the process of writing up his release from the hospital to another facility. Doctor Bledsoe had determined from the tests he'd given Max that the young man had regained enough of his memory to be functional. His health was fine, however Max was diagnosed as mentally insane. The doctor informed Max that he would be staying in another facility to determine if he could be rehabilitated. The nurse who was present in the room read Max’s diagnosis over the doctor's shoulder as he scribbled.
When Doctor Bledsoe left the room, the nurse followed him out the door into the hallway leaving Max alone in the sterile white environment. The nurse whispered, "Are they coming for him?"
The doctor confirmed they would be coming. She was to take Max back to his room where he would wait for someone from the other facility to transfer him.
The nurse was relieved. She commented, "He gives me the creeps."
The doctor gave her a look and thought: I understand, but we can't openly admit that fact. Doctor Bledsoe walked away leaving her to return to Max.
The nurse entered the sterile room and took hold of Max’s arm to help him walk back to his assigned room. She sat him in a chair by the window. She sat across the room from him as they waited for the attendants who would take him to the facility for the mentally insane. As they waited together, every so often Max would look over at her and break out in mischievous laughter. The young nurse scowled trying to ignore his looks and outbursts. She tried very hard not to wonder what he was thinking. She didn't want to know what was going on in his warped mind; after all he was mentally disturbed.
Finally Max snickered and said, "I bet they get him."
The nurse gave him a stern look. "Get whom?"
Max yelled, "Him! They are going to get him! Oh, I can't wait. This is going to be good. Really, really good!" He looked out the window and laughed. "There will be nowhere to hide. It will be in broad daylight. Just like it is now. They are coming for you, man. It's all part of the plan. The master's scheme will come to fruition!" Max kicked at the wall.
The nurse looked over at the door and thought: I hope they hurry to take him away. Just then the door opened and the nurse ran out of the room. Three men in white suits closed the door as they restrained the young man. They had to sedate Max in order to strap him on a gurney. They wheeled the patient to a vehicle that would transfer him to the other facility.
Max never slept instead he kept mumbling over and over again, "Get him, get him, get him..."
Before they left the hospital grounds, one of the attendants went to the nurse at the nurses’ station and inquired about what Max was talking about when he kept saying, "Get him."
The nurse told him what had happened earlier. The man nodded. "He really is loony in the head isn't he?"
The nurse gave him a knowing look. "And thankfully he’s all yours now."
Chapter 100 – Senior Year
Anthony walked out of the antechamber. He stopped to converse with a few of the councilmen in the lobby who were standing together. As the prime minister turned to walk away, one of Anjoleah’s agents bumped into him. The file the agent was carrying fell to the floor.
As the agent bent over to pick up the file, he said, “Excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister. I was bringing this information to you.” When the man stood, he handed the file to Anthony; along with it he put a secure ops earpiece in Anthony’s palm. Once he had transferred both items into Anthony’s hand, the man said, “Please excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister.” The agent immediately walked away.
Anthony looked around the room to see who was near before he nonchalantly put the earpiece in his ear. As he walked down the hallway, he whispered under his breath, “Hello.”
He heard Anjoleah on the other end. “Meet me in your office in thirty minutes.”
Anthony said, “I have an important meeting then. I can’t do that. You know my schedule and what is planned for today. Can’t you meet sooner or afterward?”
She answered, “Negative, thirty minutes.”
He picked up the pace to his office. “Tell me where you are. I can meet you.” There was a pause.
“Negative. It’s not safe. It will take me thirty minutes to reach your destination. This can’t wait.”
He sighed. “See you in thirty.”
Anthony walked in his outer office. He informed his secretary that he needed her to inform the host of the summit that he was unavoidably detained but would arrive at the conference as soon as possible. He asked her to extend his apologizes for this inconvenience.
As his secretary turned to fulfill the task, Anthony thought: Anjoleah this better be good. This is one of my most important conferences of the year, and I am going to be late.
In the meantime, Anthony sat at his desk and began to work. He typed several messages on his technology tablet and joined in a discussion while he waited for the commissioner to arrive. He was in the middle of the discussion when he heard the commissioner’s voice talking to his secretary. She was telling Anjoleah that he was in his office, but was conferring with a group on his technology tablet. Anthony wrapped up the conversation. He pressed his secretary’s button and asked her to send Anjoleah in. Anjoleah thanked the secretary and walked through the door.
Anthony rose from his chair. “Really Anjoleah, you had to request a meeting today of all days, when we are having a Cosmology Summit meeting? Couldn’t this wait?”
She closed the door behind her and said, “You might want to sit down for this.”
“Okay.” Anthony sat immediately. She turned around and put her back against the door. The prime minister’s demeanor changed when he noticed the serious look on her face. “You have my attention.”
“Good. What I have to tell you is serious.” Anthony motioned for her to sit.
Anjoleah shook her head. “No, thank you.” She walked over to the front of his desk and stopped.
She continued, “I was out on maneuvers in the far sector all morning. During the last half of the operation, I was notified that there was a disturbance in the Hub. I left the field immediately to check out the situation. When I arrived on the scene, I glanced across the street. In the shadow I saw four Xidorean followers suddenly appear. After nodding to each other, they left the area in different directions.”<
br />
Anthony frowned. “How do you know these people were Xidorean followers?”
Anjoleah leaned over his desk and said, “That’s not all. Another set of four followed the first group, and then another. I don’t know how many followers preceded the first group or how many came through after I left the area. I know they were followers, because first of all, they came from out of nowhere. Second of all, I was wearing my helmet when I locked in on an individual follower. The Xidorean had white hair and a pale complexion. I saw his glowing eyes with the fiery tangerine irises and large aqua pupils right on my scanning screen just before he turned and vanished into the maze of alleyways. There is a third reason for my being convinced the creatures were Xidorean followers. When my agents were able to touch any follower, two conditions occurred simultaneously. First the agent experienced horrifying hallucinations then the agent actually believed they were being suffocated due to lack of oxygen.”
Anthony leaned back in his chair and mumbled to himself, “Oh for heaven’s sake, then it’s all true. The Xidorean followers are now in the Hub on a large massive scale. If they are searching in the Hub and have come out of the shadows into the open, then it has already begun. I’m convinced they are on a quest if they are now scouting in larger numbers.”
Anthony buzzed his secretary and asked her to join them. When she entered his office, Anthony gave the orders to arrange an executive meeting with Dimitrios and the Sojourners’ Council for that evening.
After the secretary left, Anjoleah and Anthony went over the course of actions he wanted her to follow with the authorities in the field. He directed her to update Xander and to begin training their squads in shifts on a different rotation than they had been using. He gave specific orders on how to address the Sojourners’ Council. They agreed that a meeting with Dimitrios to update information before the council’s meeting would be wise. Anthony then dismissed Anjoleah to return to her duties.
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